China: Peace talks on conflict in northern Myanmar yield positive results

The talks were held after weeks of fighting between the junta and ethnic minority armed groups.

“China is pleased that the parties to the conflict in northern Myanmar have held peace talks and achieved positive results,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.

She added that Beijing will continue to provide support and help to achieve this goal.

“We believe that easing the situation in northern Myanmar is in the interests of all Myanmar countries and helps maintain peace and stability on the China-Myanmar border,” Mao Ning said.

AFP news agency was unable to contact a spokesman for the Myanmar junta.

Clashes erupted in Myanmar’s northern Shan state after an armed alliance of three ethnic minority groups staged surprise attacks on the army in October.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA) have captured dozens of military positions and a city important for trade with China, in what analysts say is the junta’s biggest military challenge since it Took over power in 2021.

Last week, the junta’s foreign minister met with the deputy secretary of China’s Yunnan Provincial Party Committee in Kunming to discuss peace and stability in the border areas, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

Beijing, which is a key ally and arms supplier to Myanmar’s junta, refuses to call the 2021 seizure of power in the neighboring country a coup.

The offensive by an alliance of ethnic minority armed groups has galvanized other opponents of the junta.

Clashes have spread to the east and west of the country, forcing more than half a million people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.